Now with virtual classrooms, multimedia, AV, special group forums, confidential chat rooms, video conferencing, web cam links, etc the classroom is in many cases virtual (especially useful for persons based in remote locations).

I seriously think most good engineers consider these things useless for their learning (at least is what i have heard from some of them)

I can’t answer completelly your questing ‘JT442’, i think depends on what you are profiling to, designer? maintenance?

Probably the ‘academic route’ would work better for designers, and probably production

While the vocational one would work better for maintenance

I have been on both, maintenance and production (heavy industry, energetic sector and now metal-mechanic), i always have feel more confortable in maintenance though.